Oliver North to speak at LCCC

ALTON - Tickets go on sale Wednesday, June 1, for a local 9/11 memorial event that will feature Oliver North and commemorate the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The event will take place Sept. 11 at Hatheway Hall at Lewis and Clark Community College. North will give a speech entitled "God in America Again."

Tickets for the speech cost $35 and will be available at the Alton branch of Liberty Bank, at 2403 Homer Adams Parkway.

Ticket sales will provide seed funds for the hosting organization, Riverbend Memorial. The nonprofit was formed in the last few months by local citizens with the goal of assisting families of fallen police officers, firefighters and military personnel in the area.

"The goal of the event is to honor the brave men and women who were either injured or killed on 9-11-01, and secondly, to begin to raise funds for fallen or injured military, police or fire personnel in the River Bend area," said Mark Moran, board member of Riverbend Memorial and organizer of the event.

Moran hatched the idea for a 10th anniversary event as a way for the River Bend to honor the 9/11 attack victims.

Alton attorney J. Thomas Long mentioned to Moran that the area didn't have an organization to provide for the families of fallen law enforcement and military personnel, and the two combined the ideas to develop the organization and the event.

Long now is the chairman of the board for Riverbend Memorial.

Moran and others involved with the nonprofit hope that having seed money ahead of time will enable them to jump in immediately with assistance during a future crisis.

"The plan is to be able to provide funds for families if someone has died serving our country or our community," Moran said. "We would be able to help them financially right away."

Moran said Riverbend Memorial chose Oliver North to speak because North founded a similar charity, Freedom Alliance, which provides scholarships to the children of fallen service members.

"Our mission ties in almost identically with his mission if you look at his website. He talks about his passion for helping these families," Moran said. "Our missions are almost the same, so he has a real passion for what we're trying to do in our community."

Doors for the 11 a.m. North speech will open at 10 a.m., and a 10:30 a.m. "pre-event" with a minister's message and music will precede North's speech.